Meringue and Pierogi

The fun of meringue. It is so very versatile. I started out making the traditional mushrooms for the Buche de Noel. And that led to other things like bunnies to accompany the mushrooms. They are so damn cute. It's just sugar, of course with some egg whites. They are baked low and slow to avoid excessive color and so they are safe to eat. Hell, I eat egg white raw all the time and never get sick. But, to be safe, I am careful when I am cooking for other people.




Oh, the lovely pierogi. Most ethnic groups have their version of the pocket of dough wrapped around their favorite (or most accesible) filling. We Polish have the Pierogi. It is a light, yeastless dough that is gently rolled thin, cut, filled, sealed and boiled in water. Then I fry it in butter and serve it with sour cream. My choice for my 4 dozen pierogi is potato, bacon and cheddar. They alone should earn us Poles some respect.

Second Grader's are Sweet Too!

My sister sent me this story and it's the type of stuff I love. It's clever, but not invented or embellished. I was once a preschool teacher (actually a teacher of the year for Children's World Learning Center one year) and it was a source of the most clever responses.


The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back. When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday' 'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement. "Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, ''Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!" Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.) 'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall. 'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,'and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there.' Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

The Sweetness of the North Woods

I have just returned from Michigan where I spent the last 5 days in the best place on earth. The people are real and real nice, the food was delish and the weather was anything but frightful. I love to spend time with the folks that are there. They make me feel happy to hang out, and they always make me feel welcome. Who can argue with hugs, then beer, then stories and jokes? They help each other have fun without it being an all out affair and will never let you make a complete fool out of yourself. If you manage to sneak in being a partial fool...they will forgive you.

We generously call it "taking your turn".

Yeah, I made food. I made a lot of sweets. I made the dessert for Forest Dunes for their Beaujolais Nouveau dinner on Saturday and it was swell. I went on an afternoon snowmobile ride, where I got dumped off. But my husband and I giggled like kids and got back on. It snowed another half a foot and was so quiet to be out in it. It felt like a gift. Peace incarnate. I made soup and spent time cuddled under my softest comforter attempting crossword puzzles while my 12 year old took a nap (this is special in case you didn't know). The time spent up there was reinvigorating, except for the part where I had to leave. With any luck, we will be back in 3 weeks for Christmas.

In Case You Didn't Know

Sugar Fun Facts

Did you know...sugar is actually sunlight captured and created by plants during the process of photosynthesis and is stored for energy?

Did you know...sugar was one of the first pharmaceutical ingredients used, as it still is today, to mask the bitter taste of medicines?

Did you know...in 1899, the very first carton was used to pack sugar? This revolutionized the sugar business, greatly improving upon the crude wooden barrels from which sugar was originally scooped for customers.

Did you know... that in the late 16th Century, a mere teaspoon of sugar cost the equivalent of five dollars in London?

Did you know...that sugar is the only taste humans are born craving?

The weekend at the Dunes

Forest Dunes Golf Course in Grayling, Michigan, that is. I was asked to upgrade the desserts at this beautiful restaurant inside the club house. It is called Sangamore's and it was built by the Carpenter's Union not too long ago. It is a lovely club surrounded by a very difficult golf course. I have been at other events, and of course for dinner. The dinners are always enjoyable, really tasty actually. The desserts are a sore subject with the staff and the customers. I could understand after seeing them. They were ordered from an 0ff-site place and so no one on staff had a hard time criticizing them.

With hunting season upon the north woods, the hunters are arriving and they are hungry. In response to this need, the restaurant had decided to offer a Wild Game Dinner Night. To accompany the gamey selections on the menu, I came up with some desserts that would do the dinner justice. I selected two heavy choices and one light choice, for the hunter in the group who wanted something less filling. I prepared the Opera cake with its mocha buttercream, almond jaconde cake, dark chocolate ganache and coffee simple syrup. Secondly, I created a flourless chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce and chocolate plaquettes. The lightest choice was a simple cream puff with ice cream and a duo of sauces, chocolate and caramel. I was told that every patron ordered dessert, which is unusual and exciting.

For the following night, which was actually the opening day for hunting, was dedicated to the ladies. "Ladies, Ladies, Ladies", as my friend Drew McCurdy would say. Well, they answered the call to the tune of 175 women. If you knew how remote this location was you may understand how incredible a turn out that is and from how far away they must have come. I demonstrated how to make the creme brulee and the chocolate cake (18 pounds of chocolate worth for the whole night), to which the women were most attentive. As an audience, they were inquisitive and funny. I made some of the same things as the previous night, albeit in petit four size. I also made caramel candies, lemon curd cakes, poppyseed madeleines with a caramel run sauce and vanilla creme brulee. There were 1200 pieces in all, and they were gone in 2 hours. Good Lord, I was shocked. But happy.

One of the highlights of the weekend was my little assistant. He was my little Chef Alex, Chef Jake's son. He was never in the way and he took away my dirty dishes and brought me his special concoction. He made it up by mixing fruit punch and lemonade and told me, "I just can't quit drinking it". He had sold me. That was my drink, but only for so long. He is little and I am old. It was realllllly sweet. He did me the favor of eating the broken chocolate plaquettes (just some tempered chocolate smoothed over a decoartive cocoa butter design). He tasted a fingertipful of the sauces and even ate a tiny bit of edible gold leaf. I told him that he was increasing in value as he swallowed. He showed up both days and we discussed flavors, textures, aromas and he did not want to leave on the second day. He was to go hang with his Grandpa. He tried to convince his Dad not to take him. I found him, red eyed and sniffling, trying to cover his face, by the walk-in cooler. I pretended not to notice that he was crying, but I could feel for him. I wanted him to stay. Hell, he carried on a hell of a conversation. Did I mention he was still in elementary school? (I had to chant this mantra as I fell to sleep, "You are too old to have another baby, You are too old to have another baby").

I am always nervous entering another Chef's domain. I always thank him (or her) for allowing me the use of their space. Then I ask them to let me know if I am ever using a space that they will be needing or am in the way of any sort. I gave Chef Jake a caramel and he asks, "did you make this?". I reply in the affirmative and throughout the evenings, he would ask the same question about different things, always with my same reply. Yes, I made the desserts, the curd, the chocolate plaquettes, the curls, the tuiles, the chocolate cigarettes. He then saw me plating up the Opera for the Game Dinner and said, "ah ha, did you make the chocolate covered espresso beans?" I could finally answer "no". There would be no point. The quality was high enough for me. I added that I also did not make the berries. If it had been a few months earlier, I could have said that I had grown those too. But, we are in the north woods and it is coooold.

It looks so unassuming

Yesterday was my husband's first day at his new job. I decided that we had to have a celebratory sweet. He said that either lemon or pumpkin were fine, so I chose the lemon because we are about to be bombarded with pumpkin everything. Here's a tip: unless you are starting your pumpkin desserts with a baking pumpkin, roasting it and mashing it yourself...well, you can make those pumpkin sweets all year round. It comes in a can. Ahhhh, I digress.

I made this lemon cake with lemon curd, fresh of course. Damn, lemons are a buck a piece right now. You think I should have gone with the cheap can of pumpkin instead? Cook seasonally, you say? Sometimes it just has to be lemon, even in November. Besides, I am pretending that it is summer and we are just having a particularly cold week. (I can do this until I require boots). Man, I am easily sidetracked. Okay, the curd is in the cake as well as the frosting. It is tangy and light, and easily the most delicate cake I make. I think I have a crush on this cake.

Oh Sugar, I Haven't Abandoned You

I was preparing for an event this week and decided to make a triple batch of caramels. I usually take them to every event, ordered or not, because they are such a hit and I love them too.

They are so beautiful, both in their simplicity and richness. I have also made the things actually ordered. There will be several products I cannot begin to produce until the day prior to or the day of, but I guarantee that these will be the things that people talk about. They will be the thing that people stuff into their purses and eat tomorrow on the way to work. I think that they are magical little bites of sugar. Or as my neice, Julie says, "What's in these...heaven?"

Credit Due

They really look like they know what they're doing.

Broccoli & Tomatoes doing their thing.

So much green, so little time.... This sucker was hotter than the average

jalapeno.

No instructions necessary for this pole bean plant. It just winds its way up and around the little post. A lot energy in this quiet little spot.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake and other edibles

A grape vine cookie. For the hell of it.

A little coffee cake for a bleak morning in Northern Michigan. Was really moist and creamy. I sent one over to Lewiston for Bonnie and Robert Hendry. My sister Patti was going for a visit and thought they might like a sweet. Turns out I was right.

Okay, okay, it's not really a piece of cake. I found this rock and it looked like a piece of cake. I painted it and then found a little one that looked like a strawberry. It's damn cute.

Can't Forget About The Blueberries

I picked blueberries for 3 hours in the woods behind my cottage in Grayling, Michigan. The berries, actually called "huckleberries" (I'll be your huckleberry - Val Kilmer), are real tiny. If you have a case of OCD, consider yourself gifted on the days you pick the berries. I'm not kidding. You could pick for days on this property. I normally can begin the last week of June, but this year they took their time and didn't look ready until the third week of July.

I had so many options for what to do with all these berries. I've done this before and made jam, pancakes, muffins, and of course ate them out of hand. But this year I made a giant blueberry pie. I used a sturdy sweet dough. This pie is heavy. It took nine cups or so of blueberries. I took it to a "Christmas in July" party and it went over well. The little that was left was enjoyed as breakfast, I'm told, by our friends Mona and J.P. in Grayling. He is now back in Iraq, only home for a short time to attend a funeral. I was honored to feed them.

The Garden is My Baby

You know how some people always have pictures of their kids? They make you look at them and expect you to think they are so cute. I am so weird. I didn't do much of that when my kids were little. If my kids were there in person, sure, I'd expect you to comment about them. But I didn't want to put you in the uncomfortable position of having to pretend like you cared when I pulled out a pic of them in their absence. WELL, times have changed. So has the content of the pictures.

It's ironic that while all this lovely stuff grows in the dirt (manure even), it looks so fresh and clean in the pictures. The colors up against the darkness of the soil is so lovely. And I know that I don't put anything in the garden outside of a fertilizer so those babies are good for eatin'. I do just pick stuff usually while I'm out there weeding (by hand). Even my girl, Natalie has spent hours of her summer weeding and helping out the plants. We consider the weeds to be thieves of our nutritious soil. The birds,too. But who can blame them all for wanting to feast? It is pretty pure stuff.

I love my garden. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for every beautiful thing that is grown in it. I think that everyone should have a garden. To feel gratitude every single day is better than falling in love. I know that this blog is supposed to be about sugar, and I still love that too. However, the magic (I know it's science, but magic more adequately describes the emotional connection) that occurs when the little seed becomes something that nourishes my family and my friends still brings about something childlike and new in me. I wish I could start a neighborhood garden in the areas that need it the most. No one would ever be hungry.

I Think I Need A Peach Tree...and other things

On my way home from Traverse City, I bought these Michigan grown plums and peaches. Christian was getting frustrated with me because as soon as I walked in the door I just had to take some pictures. I knew that they wouldn't last long on the counter and since I fall in love with beautiful stuff, I really NEEDED to get a picture of them right NOW!!!

The peaches were so ripe that they smelled like a scented candle. The juice would just pour out of them as soon as you touched them. Jeff was driving in to town and took one with him to try on the way. He ended up getting juice on himself and Margaret's car. Sadly, he had to throw some of it out the window because it was just too juicy to eat while driving.

I made the tart below with some almond cream (frangipane) and then the peaches. Normally I would boil them for a minute to loosen the skin but I couldn't chance them getting any softer. I peeled them with a very sharp knife and then quartered them. I put them in a pot with some vanilla sugar, almond extract, a touch of cinnamon and a little bit of butter. I only warmed them and then spooned them out one quarter at a time. I arranged them and topped them with some raspberries. I baked it for about, oh I don't know, until it looked ready. It was tasty. I took some down to The Two Track bar in Grayling and it was enjoyed by some of our friends there. The other one was devoured at the cottage.

It's a berry good start

The first of many strawberries, I hope. There are ten strawberry plants. We have put in a garden at our cottage in northern Michigan. The season is short and the weather is peculiar. I have had to study up on the particulars of growing anything in that part of the state. This plant is actually 4 weeks further along now and I have put it on a bed of mulch so that the tiny fruit never have to touch the ground. They are picky!!

In my garden, I have also planted the following:
Peppers: red, yellow, orange, jalapeno, banana, poblano
Onions: Green, Leeks, Shallots
Herbs: Basil, Oregano, Cilantro, French Tarragon, Texas Terragon,
Parsley, Thyme, Spearmint
Strawberries, Watermelon, Pumpkin & rhubarb
Carrots, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower
Red and Green Cabbage
Tomatoes (5 types) & Beans
Zucchini & Cucumber
Lettuce: 3 types

I just spent the last ten days there tending, weeding and planting additional plants. I would have taken newer pictures but I (oops!) forgot the camera. I will be back there in nine days so there will be pics definitely then.

Having a garden is so hopeful! I recommend it. I also love the idea that I can feed my family even if I can't get to the store. I think I was born a few decades too late. I am thinking I should have been a farmer's wife....

Kids gotta have the sugar

This has been a week of birthdays...for 6 year olds. I feel like a drug pusher grooming my future customers.














I think it's strange that 6 year olds ike "high School Musical" enough to make it their party theme. I mean, they're 6. You're a teenagers by the time you get to high school. then again, my ninth grader can't stand the movie.

Easter dessert

I should have just made a carrot cake . I made this dessert for Easter and while everyone liked it, they said it was their least favorite thing I had made recently. Now mind you, they have a lot to choose from. I bake a lot. Their Easter baskets were filled with chocolate bunnies, big & small, that I tempered and molded myself. But, still they tried this and didn't love it. I liked it, but didn't love it either.

It consisted of a lemon cake (very thin) topped with a white chocolate pyramid filled with white chocolate mousse and raspberry coulis. It had a drizzle of the coulis, whipped cream and a bit of peah champagne sorbet. I thought it was beautiful and was glad I played around with it. They just don't like the plated desserts, I have come to realize. Throw some ice cream in a bowl and they are happy.

Take your pick...dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate coconut nests, topped with jelly beans. I have had these in my easter basket every year of my life. We started out getting them from Master's Chocolates in Detroit. They closed many years ago and we had to seek them out or attempt making them. My sister Patti made them for a few years, but I didn't always live near her. Some shops make little, teeny sad excuses for nests and charged too too much for them. After I went to The French Pastry School a few years ago, I decided to make them for myself.

I made them for the folks I worked with at Le Francais prior to leaving (it was the week of Easter) and they couldn't figure out what they were. I realized that many of them were not of the Christian faith and didn't ever have an easter basket. However, they loved them and I have been making them for customers for two years. They are a big seller. And I don't charge a fortune.

I also upgraded my chocolate this year. I used to use a real nice, high quality chocolate and it was fantastic. However, after taking a class with Norman Love, of Norman Love's Chocolates in Florida, I decided to use Felchlin chcocolate which is incredible and a definite step up in the world of chocolate. It is smoooooth and deep tasting. I am really happy with it.

I bake the coconut, not to toast it, only to dry it. Then I temper the chocolate and blend them together. I form the nests and add the jelly beans. I package them up and tie them with a bow. They are adorable and yummy.

In the Kitchen with my Girl

Emma made her first batch of chocolate chunk cookies. She started off by marveling at the giant bar of chocolate I was cutting chunks off of and proceeded to sneak many chunks. Quality control, I guess. She made some kick ass white chocolate/milk chocolate chunk cookies. Her she is giving a thumbs up to her first batch!

Congratulations! It's a Tart!

I had such a nice time making this tart. It was beautiful every step of the way. I love to roll the dough and fit it into the ring. I love to mix the filling, slice the apples, brush on the butter, sprinkle the vanilla sugar and then glaze with the cinnamon caramel when it's still hot. Here is summer and fall all in a tart. It smells fresh, rich, homey and inviting. This is the mama tart and below you will see the babies.


I fall in love with my baked goods. I really do. They are like a good secret, safe to share, doesn't hurt anyone, makes everyone smile.